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Conference on Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes

Conference on Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes

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A recent webinar hosted by the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) entitled «Impacts and Challenges of Plastic Pollution Facing the Great Lakes Basin» was on the subject of plastic pollutions in the Great Lakes Region between Canada and the United States.

The webinar included the following speakers and presentations:

  • Sherri A. Mason, Ph.D., Sustainability Coordinator, Penn State Behrend, speaking on the extent and impacts of plastics on the Great Lakes. Her presentation is available for download here.
  • Olga Speranskaya, Ph.D, Co-Director, Health and Environmental Justice Support & Fe de Leon, MPH, Researcher and Paralegal, Canadian Environmental Law Association, speaking on the recent Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments and the Canada-U.S. arrangement that sidetracks the goals of the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments. Their presentation is available for download here and here.
  • Sarah Bennett, Campaign Manager, Clean Water Advocacy, PennFuture, and Lynda Lukasic, Executive Director, Environment Hamilton, speaking on the Erie PA – Nanticoke ON proposal.  Sarah Bennett’s presentation is available for download here. Lynda Lukasic’s presentation is available for download here.

While giving a state of the plastic threats that the greats are facing, the speakers insisted on the threat not only resides at the end of life of plastic products but also at their very beginning. Olga Speranskaya, co-director of HEJSupport, then gave a presentation on the implication of the Basel Convention, on the treatment of waste, in the agreements between the two countries. Even though, the United States is not party to the Basel Convention, the article 11 provides that Canada, who has ratified the Convention, ought to respect the main provisions while contracting with non-parties. The problem that was then spoken of, if the matter, whether plastics under certain forms are considered as waste or products under the Basel Convention, making its provisions enforceable, in the former case, and weakly controlled in the latter.

The webinar recording is available below.

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